As a very big Metal Gear fan since PS1 and MGS1, its obvious to me that this is a true Metal Gear game, I dont see why people would see otherwise.

-Its has Metal Gear Characters from MGS2 and MGS4 (Raiden, Sunny, and possibly others to be seen like the rumoured Solidus being referenced and possibly appearing) -It has Metal Gear Units (such as the Ray and Gekkos) -Takes place on the Metal Gear timeline and Universe (4 years after Metal Gear Solid 4) -Kojima and his team are working on and overlooking development (they are involved basically %50+ with things such as cutscenes, script, etc.) -It references past Metal Gear games and storyline (cyborg tech, PMCS at war etc.) -It has a Metal Gear title -Still handled by Japanese Companies -It maintains Metal Gear HUD elements, symbols, Inventory look, open areas, codec, boss battles, sounds, Health Bar, etc.

If all these things don't make up a Metal Gear game, I guess I dont know what does. Of course, if you were to ask is this a real Metal Gear Solid title, it would be an obvious no (it is Metal Gear Rising), if thats what you are looking for, you have to wait until Ground Zeroes which I am also excited for.

And personally if anyone deserves a spin off from the Metal Gear Universe I would say its Frank Jeagar / Gray Fox as the main candidate, both as the kid soilder raised as a war machine and the orignal ninja (Null) / cyborg ninja.

Since MGS1 i wanted to play as Gray Fox Ninja and slice people up. Then came MGS 4 and i saw Raiden do crazy shit in the cutscenes and i thought to myselft :damn why can i see this stuff only in cutscenes? i want a Raiden Game Hack and Slash and finally on february my time has come cant wait for Rising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So do you mean that Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is an actual Sonic game? There are the Sonic characters, they are developed by Sega, there are HUD elements from Sonic games, there are visual elements from Sonic games, there is "Sonic" in the name, etc...

And do you consider Uncharted: Fight For Fortune as an Uncharted game? There are the Uncharted characters, there is the Uncharted soundtrack, there are HUD elements from Uncharted games, it has "Uncharted" in the title, etc...

Those are exaggerated examples, but do you understand now why some people and some fans don't consider Metal Gear Rising as a Metal Gear game?

Metal Gear series is and has always been a stealth series. Kojima Prod tried to do the same with Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and they failed. They gave it to Platinum Games and they made it a 100% slasher. Then people stopped considering the game as a Metal Gear game but simply as a slasher.

Well said, bubbles! If this is indeed a metal gear game, then from now on, Raiden completely defeats the purpose of a new - modern time - Metal Gear featuring Snake, a clone or any new character that plays like him. What's the point of having a stealthy main character when there's another one just around the corner who can slice meteors with his glowing stick?! To me, it feels like having an Aquaman game in which Superman is your sidekick.

Anyway, the game looks nice enouth and it seems to be a very good addition to a genre that I don't play since Lords of Shadows, so I'll be getting it on release date. But I'll try not to think about it as metal gear.

Yes I consider Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing a real sonic game and a Uncharted: Fight For Fortune, but like what I was trying to say in my first comment they are not part of the main game series, they are are a seperate series of games that are made within the universe of the main game series with a different genre and most times subtitle to differentiate them. There is nothing wrong with companies trying to expand the universe, as long as they are keeping the main series alive (not replacing or killing off the beloved franchise already established) and providing fans what they want, like Ground Zeroes is being made simontaneously with Metal Gear Rising for those who want Metal Gear Soild (Naughty Dog are taking a break with Uncharted but are still supporting U3, and Sonic may still continue despite the creator wanting to take a break on him). People consider MarioKart or anything Mario in that matter a true Mario game but most of them arent sidescrolling games, people see Resident Evil 4 as a true Resident Evil game even though it completely changed in how the game is played, Operation Racoon City is a Resident Evil game based on the 3 factions which makes it a real Resident Evil game just from another perspective and in another genre, many people may or may not like it, but they are spin-offs so don't expect to see everything as the main series and you dont have to like them. As for Capcom they do not know how seperate a spin off and main series, like how they are basically making a spin off of Lost Planet with Lost Planet 3, but they made it an offical numbered part of the series (big fan of lost planet, hate that they did that) same goes with Resident Evil 6 making it more of a mainstream over the shoulder action shooter as oppose to what the fans actually like about the series and then there is DmC where it is a reboot and completely new story, but now it is trying to be put out as an origin story which makes no sense to me and by trying to make it connect or saying its related to the main series is a bad decision (big fan of Devil May Cry, I hate what they are trying to put out with DmC mostly because they are trying to kill off the old franchise, replace it, and telling people its as good and as close as it gets to the orignial when it is not).

So for Metal Gear Rising, it has been established as a spin off series within the universe of Metal Gear to go on in addition to the main Solid series and has been said to not be cannon to the story of Metal Gear, Kojima understands this game will be different and that there is another company on board with them for the game, so he completely seperated the 2 game series of Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Rising, but they are both Metal Gear and no one is forced to like what they have introduced. It's kind of like saying there is a music artist that is making an album for everyone who loves their work, but on the side they are also going to release a new album different from what they are used to doing to try it out, you have the choice to buy whichever album you want and are able to state an opinion, but you can not say the different album is not the work of the artist, when it clearly is.

But I completely understand what you are saying as to why fans will not see it as true Metal Gear game and how it is now all hack and slash, but that was Kojima's choice to be complete action and its not like the stealth is completely gone, they have stated that many parts of the game will allow you to approach scenarios differently like being able to just sneak by enemies, stealth killing a whole squad of men, hiding at higher ground or other ares to have your alert / caution timer go down etc. but yes I know and I understand it is primarily a hack and slash game first and foremost.

if you really think this game looks anything close to a MGS game then you are not really a fan, you're just deluding yourseld. Everything from art-direction to presentation are more like Bayonetta and Vanquish than Metal Gear. Even Raiden's personality is different!

You are like those people that claim to be a fan of the DMC series saying that the reboot feels like DMC when the the game's basically Heavenly Sword under a new coat of paint.

If you don't see this as a Metal Gear game you are probably being ignorant or you just dont want it to be a Metal Gear game. Art Direction and presentation are as they are because it is Platinum Games engines, but animations for soilders and the models in the game plus a lot of the characters seem very Metal Gear Solid, like how I can see Sam relating to Vamps appearance, as well as Mistral (lady with all the arms) resembling the design of Fortune a little (from MGS2) and it seems to be very story focused and deep as previous Metal Gear games. If the Fox Engine was ready and optimized for use I'm sure they would have used that and being a decision from both teams to make the game more focused on hack and slash made Platinum games engine more of a best fit, especially with Kojima stating that he for sure wants 60 fps and an in depth combat system with the Zan Datsu cut anything system. All of it came down to time, if platinum and Kojima were making the game like this from day one, it could of very likely been on the MGS4 multiplatform engine, but that was not the case as Kojima chose Platinum to save the new spin-off series from not existing. Look at my reply to Tomonobu Itagaki.

As for DmC (as I said in an above comment) I am a big fan of Devil May Cry and think the reboot feels close to nothing like the original series and I have been saying from day one of its gameplay showing it looks just like a new IP inspired by Heavenly Sword, Devil May Cry and Dantes Inferno. Metal Gear Rising is a Spin-off set within the Metal Gear universe and MGS timeline therefore making it a Metal Gear game (not an MGS game), DmC is a reboot, where the story is completely different as well as the enviornments and characters etc. making it basically a seperate IP with just having familiar names and titles (it is not a Devil May Cry game).

On topic: Everyones agreeing that this is a fantastic game, spin-off or not it's supposed to be extremely fun, & maybe it'll kill off some of the Raiden haters.. who knows! Getting ZOE HD today so I'll see how the demo is, should be fun!.

I was a bit skeptical like most MG fans, but I also happen to play a lot of action games and PG has never disappointed me. I gotta say that the game felt like a mix of Tenchu and Devil May Cry. Is it far off from what we've seen in the past when Konami was working on the game? Not really and I'm glad PG didn't throw it away. I am pretty sure you can upgrade later.

It's not and it never will be. It's a non-canon cash-in to try and help Platinum Games actually make a profit on one of their games. Of course, much like their other mediocre games this will flop too. Would've been at least a little better if they kept the story canon where it would've taken place between MGS2 & MGS4 but Platinum Games wanted to screw that up too.

I don't know why people keep saying this game is not Metal Gear. Just because Snake isn't in it it's automatically not Metal Gear? Last I checked it's not Metal Gear SOLID. Raiden is not meant to be a stealth character he's a ninja that goes in and slashes everything, you know like in MGS4. And Kojima has already said this is a canon game whether you want to accept it or not. If you don't like this game then that's fine. Go ahead and wait for Ground Zeroes, but anyone that says Rising isn't a Metal Gear game is being absolutely ignorant.